The Australian Women's Register

Bernice Agar was a highly successful portrait photographer based in Sydney, whose work featured prominent Australian society figures. Agar was also an early fashion photographer. Widely published, her glamourous works were characterised by a strong preference for artificial light and crisp outlines. Her technique favoured strong frontal lighting. Few of her society portraits survive today.

Elizabeth Louisa How is the earliest known Australian female amateur photographer. The subjects of How’s portrait photography include members of her merchant family, friends, staff, and visitors to the How’s family residence at ‘Woodlands,’ North Sydney. How’s landscape photography recorded views of Sydney Cove, Government House, Campbell’s Wharf, and views around her house and garden. How’s salted paper prints were developed using half-plate glass negatives.

Formerly known as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, the Australian Human Rights Commission is Australia’s national human rights watchdog. An independent statutory body which reports to the Parliament of Australia through the Attorney-General, it was established on 10 December 1986 and comprises: a president and seven commissioners; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner; Age Discrimination Commissioner; Children’s Commissioner; Disability Discrimination Commissioner; Human Rights Commissioner; Race Discrimination Commissioner and a Sex Discrimination Commissioner

The District Court of New South Wales is the intermediate court in the state’s judicial hierarchy. It is a trial court – the largest in Australia – and it has an appellate jurisdiction. The Court’s judges, of which there are more than 60, also preside over a number of tribunals. The District Court Act 1858 (22 Vic No 18), which was assented to on 12 November 1858, established district courts and divided the then Colony of New South Wales into Districts. The District Court Act 1973 established a single District Court of New South Wales, with a state-wide criminal and civil jurisdiction.

Dominica Whelan was a Judge of the Federal Circuit Court, former Commissioner of Fair Work Australia, and former industrial officer, with lifelong commitments to feminism, labour law and equitable access to justice.

Formally established in 2004, the Women Barristers Forum (WBF) is a section of the New South Wales Bar which was created to promote and support women at the New South Wales Bar.

Jane Stapleton was appointed Distinguished Professor of Law at the Australian National University, Canberra, in 2016.

In 1990 Justice Deirdre Frances O’Connor became the first woman to be appointed to the Federal Court. She was also the President of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission.

The Honourable Justice Virginia Bell AC is the fourth woman since 1901 to have been appointed to the High Court of Australia.

Judith Cohen was the first female commissioner of the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, appointed in 1975.

Wendy Whiteley OAM was best known as a model, muse and advisor to her husband and renowned artist Brett Whiteley. After the death of Brett Whiteley she has stayed in the public eye with ongoing support of the visual arts and her work in establishing a public garden of significance.

The public garden known as ‘Wendy’s Secret Garden’ was established in 1992. It was named informally by local residents after Wendy Whiteley who cleared the derelict land and established the gardens. The land belongs to the NSW State Railways but had been neglected for decades. In October 2015 it was leased to North Sydney Council on 30 year lease with a 30 year option. It is now a popular location for weddings and tourists.

In 1982, Jean Austin became one of the most senior women in the Commonwealth Public Service: after almost three decades of service (during which she had acted as principal legal officer (common law) and then assistant deputy crown solicitor), Austin had attained the position of deputy crown solicitor in New South Wales. Austin attended Fort Street Girls’ High School and then went to the Deputy Crown Solicitor’s Office where she was engaged as a typist. She was appointed to the Commission of the Peace for the State of New South Wales in 1953.

Although she had originally wanted to be a surgeon, the relevant courses were overseas, and so she decided to study law, doing so on a part-time basis at the University of Sydney between 1950 and 1954. Her academic achievements saw her awarded the George and Matilda Harris Scholarship in both the second and third year of her degree. She graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 1955 and was subsequently admitted to the Bar. She did not, however, practise as a barrister, believing that the better briefs – for women practitioners – were in the Crown Solicitor’s Office (now the Australian Government Solicitor). Austin was a Committee member of the Women Lawyers’ Association of New South Wales. In 1978 she was awarded an MBE for public service in the field of law.

The Hon. Justice Janine Pritchard was appointed to the Supreme Court of Western Australia on 11 June 2010. She was elevated to this position after a year as a Judge of the District Court of Western Australia, during which period she served as Deputy President of the State Administrative Tribunal. Prior to her appointment to the District Court, Justice Pritchard had worked in the WA Crown (now State) Solicitor’s Office (since 1991).

Known for her powerful intellect and work ethic, Justice Pritchard has been an important role model for women planning to combine a career in law, and in the judiciary in particular, with family responsibilities. Her first child was present at her swearing in ceremony; her second was born after her appointment. While she acknowledges the challenges of maintaining a demanding career with a ‘hands on’ approach to family life, Justice Pritchard has demonstrated that working arrangements for the judiciary are capable of accommodating family friendly policies, such as maternity leave.

Janine Pritchard was interviewed by Nikki Henningham in the Trailblazing Women and the Law Oral History Project. For details of the interview see the National Library of Australia CATALOGUE RECORD.

Nerolie Withnall is a leading company director overseeing the direction and transformation of large Australian companies and institutions. She was the former Director of ALS, Alchemia Limited, PanAust and Computershare Communication Services Limited. A former Partner at Minter Ellison she was Chairman, Board of Queensland Museum and a member of the Council of the Australian National Maritime Museum and Board of the Australian Rugby Union. Withnall was also a long-term Member of the Takeovers Panel. Withnall made legal history becoming the first woman President of a Law Society in Australia.

Nerolie Withnall was interviewed by Kim Rubenstein for the Trailblazing Women and the Law Oral History Project. For details of the interview see the National Library of Australia CATALOGUE RECORD.

Robyn Bicket has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in the Commonwealth public service. She has represented the Australian Government in the United Kingdom and at the United Nations in Switzerland. She was the first lawyer in the Australian Department of Immigration to be posted to the Australian High Commission in London as First Secretary Immigration. She also has the distinction of having been the Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s very first chief lawyer. She has made a significant contribution to immigration and humanitarian policy, governance, public sector reform and management in Australia. In 2001 Bicket was awarded the Secretary’s Public Service Medal in the Australia Day Honours List, for services to the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs.

Robyn Bicket was interviewed by Kim Rubenstein in the Trailblazing Women and the Law Oral History Project. For details of the interview see the National Library of Australia CATALOGUE RECORD.

Jane Connors has had a distinguished academic career in which she has dedicated her scholarship and work as an international law practitioner to the betterment of United Nations (UN) treaty mechanisms and the rights of women and children.

After studying law and arts at the Australian National University in Canberra, she taught at the Canberra College of Advanced Education (now University of Canberra) before travelling to England, United Kingdom. There, she taught at the Universities of Nottingham and Lancaster, and at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.

Drawn to the UN, in 1996 Connors was appointed Chief, Women’s Rights Section in the Division for the Advancement of Women in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, UN. In 2009 she became Chief, Special Procedures Branch of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights; she was also later Director of the Research and Right to Development Division. Connors retired from the UN in March 2015.

Her commitment to international human rights continues with her role as International Advocacy Director Law and Policy for Amnesty International based in Geneva, Switzerland. She regularly teaches at universities around the globe, including at the London School of Economics where she is Visiting Professor in Practice.

Jane Connors was interviewed by Kim Rubenstein for the Trailblazing Women and the Law Oral History Project. For details of the interview see the National Library of Australia CATALOGUE RECORD.

Admitted to practice in NSW in the early 1980s and having developed a strong reputation in personal injury law, Sally Gearin was recruited specifically to Darwin by the Northern Territory Attorney General’s Department in 1986.

Rising through the ranks to become a senior litigation solicitor, she was called to the Bar in late 1989 by the then Head of William Forster Chambers, Trevor Riley QC, later to become Chief Justice Trevor Riley.

Relishing the opportunity to back herself, and openly lesbian since 1978, Sally became the first woman to go to the Bar in the Northern Territory. She developed a vibrant practice and remained there for 20 years until her retirement in 2010. Having won more than 90% of her cases at trial, she was satisfied she had justified the faith of those colleagues who supported her early in her career.

Always active in pro bono, she worked with others to establish the first women’s refuge in Darwin in 1988 and helped establish community legal services and refugee advocacy in the 1990s. In 1992 she was awarded a fellowship to travel to the USA with Judy Harrison, another woman lawyer, to research responses to domestic violence. Their subsequent book and recommendations were a blueprint for policy responses in the mid 1990s both in the Territory and nationwide.

Sally currently (in 2016) sits as a part time legal member of a number of Tribunals in the Northern Territory.

Sally Gearin was interviewed by Nikki Henningham in the Trailblazing Women and the Law Oral History Project. For details of the interview see the National Library of Australia CATALOGUE RECORD.

The Hon. Justice Jane Mathews AO was the first woman to be admitted to full judicial office in New South Wales, and she has continued to pave the way for women lawyers on a number of fronts. Mathews became the State’s first female Supreme Court judge, as well as its first female District Court judge and its first Crown prosecutor. In addition to these positions, she has served as president of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and on the bench of the Federal Court of Australia. Other roles have included president of the International Association of Women Judges, following her involvement in establishing the Australian chapter of the organisation, and deputy chancellor of the University of New South Wales. Patron of the Women Lawyers’ Association of New South Wales, Mathews was appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia for service to the judiciary, to the legal profession, to the University of New South Wales, and to music.

Mathews passed away on 31 August 2019. Recognised as a trailblazer in her field, prominent lawyers said the ‘”adored” and down-to-earth Mathews, who had a deep commitment to social justice, left an indelible mark on the legal profession and the women who followed in her footsteps.’

Jane Mathews was interviewed by Kim Rubenstein for the Trailblazing Women and the Law Oral History Project. For details of the interview see the National Library of Australia CATALOGUE RECORD.

Nancy Gordon Smith graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Sydney in 1959, followed by a Master of Laws degree in 1970. Although admitted to the Bar, she did not practise as a barrister. On 16 August 1964 she was admitted as a solicitor. At the time of her death she held the positions of Senior Solicitor and Deputy Secretary to the Reserve Bank of Australia.

The University of Sydney awards two prizes in Smith’s memory. The Nancy Gordon Smith Postgraduate Prize may be awarded annually on the recommendation of the Board of Postgraduate Studies of the Faculty of Law, University of Sydney, to the most proficient candidate for the degree of Master of Laws by coursework.

Kathleen Trevelyan (nee Hayes) was an early chairman of the Discrimination Board and also served as an alderman at the Ku-ring-gai Council in the 1960s. Trevelyan attended New Zealand’s Epsom Girls’ Grammar in Auckland and studied Arts at Victoria College, Wellington. In 1938, she was appointed secretary of the Wellington branch of the Society for the Promotion of the Health of Women and Children, also known as the Plunket Society. After coming to Sydney in the late 1930s, she worked in Chalfont Chambers, later becoming associate to Mr Justice (later Sir) Bernard Sugerman of the Land and Valuation Court. During her associateship, she undertook a Bachelor of Laws degree at the University of Sydney, graduating in 1959. On 29 February 1957, she became the seventh woman to sign the Bar Roll of counsel and to actively practise at the New South Wales Bar. She had a broad practice with an emphasis on family law. In time she became the head of chambers at Parramatta. In the 1960s, she was honorary secretary and then vice-president of the Women Lawyers’ Association of New South Wales.

Patricia Smithurst Schlosshan was the daughter of Cyril Smithurst, a respected pharmacist in Gunnedah, north-eastern New South Wales, and his wife, Eileen. She attended St Mary’s College, Gunnedah and the University of Sydney, receiving a Sporting Blue in athletics for 1955 and graduating with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1956. Although admitted to the New South Wales Bar, she did not practise as a barrister. Smithurst married American lawyer Dr Bodo Schlosshan whom she had met in London in 1956 and together they lived in Paris and New York before settling in Frankfurt am Main and raising a family of six. In 1967, Smithurst received a Master of Arts from Cornell University for her dissertation entitled ‘Heinrich Boll’s Concept of Reality, 1949-1960’.

Lesley Roscoe Nield (later Bowles) graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts in 1938. After undertaking articles with H. (Halse) Millett and R. C. (Robert Campbell) Cathels of Sydney, she was admitted as a solicitor on 21 November 1941. On 12 February 1954, the now Lesley Roscoe Bowles was admitted to the New South Wales Bar. She did not, however, practise as a barrister. For a number of years until his retirement in 1962, Bowles was clerk to her father, Mr Justice John Roscoe Nield of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. In 1969, Bowles graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Laws. She practised with the firms Greenwell & York and Hickson, Lakeman & Holcombe.

Lilian Jessie Craft (nee Goldsmith) has the distinction of having been the first woman in New South Wales to become a solicitor by undertaking the Solicitors’ Admission Board course. She was also the first woman solicitor to practise in the regional New South Wales city of Goulburn, when she was managing clerk to the city’s firm of Ian R. Duffy and Galland in 1947. The then Goldsmith attended Fort Street Girls’ High School. On 1 November 1933 a notice in The Sydney Morning Herald announced that she had been serving articles of clerkship with Keith Ewington Whitehead Solicitor of Sydney and of her intention to apply to be admitted as an attorney-solicitor and proctor. She was admitted on 17 November 1933. In 1938, she travelled overseas for a year. When she returned, she set up her own practice and also took on responsibility for the practice of Horace Archy Teakle, who went into the army. (She herself joined the Women’s Royal Australian Navy Service (W.R.A.N.S.), on 10 July 1945). In the late 1940s Goldsmith worked in the State Crown Solicitor’s Office. She married in 1949. With her retirement from practice as a solicitor in 1959, Craft transferred to the Bar roll as a non-practising barrister. She was appointed permanent convenor of the regular meetings of the informal Society of Women Lawyers, the forerunner to the Women Lawyers’ Association of New South Wales.

Sally Joseph was one of the first solicitors to work at the Aboriginal Legal Service in Redfern, Sydney. She graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1967, the same year in which she was appointed to the Commission of the Peace for the State of New South Wales. Although admitted to the New South Wales Bar, Joseph did not practise as a barrister, instead working briefly at the Commonwealth Crown Solicitor’s Office before being admitted as a solicitor on 11 February 1972. She practised at the Aboriginal Legal Service and later in the eastern Sydney suburb of Vaucluse.

Kathleen McGarry was the fourth woman to be admitted to the New South Wales Bar. The third and youngest child of Patrick McGarry, a former member of the Legislative Assembly of Murrumbidgee in south-western New South Wales, and Mary McGarry (nee Myres), McGarry lived at Ardenclutha in Hunter’s Hill on Sydney’s North Shore and was educated by the Sisters of Charity at St Vincent’s College, Potts Point. She continued to be associated with the College after she had left, particularly through the Ex-Students’ Dramatic Society. At the University of Sydney she spent time at Sancta Sophia College and was a member of the University’s Catholic Women’s Society. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1928 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1935. On 6 March 1936 McGarry became the first Catholic woman to be admitted to the New South Wales Bar. She did not practise, however, and after an early stint at the Parliamentary Draftsman’s Office, appears to have abandoned the law and turned her attentions to the arts, producing plays and skits for the theatre and radio. McGarry had been an early student of the Independent Theatre School of Dramatic Art and impressed audiences with her prowess on the stage. She earned a number of prizes for her artistic abilities, including second prize in the Catholic broadcasting station 2SM’s ‘Search for Talent’ competition in 1935. As a member of the Catholic Women’s Association, with which she was deeply involved, she learned Braille and applied her knowledge to translate the Roman Missal. She was said to be fluent in French and German.

It was not until later in life that Daune Delano Davis made the decision to become a barrister. Furthermore, although her maternal uncle, John Roscoe Nield, had been a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, and her cousin, Lesley Roscoe Nield (later Bowles), was a solicitor, it is Mary Gaudron, later the first woman judge to sit on the bench of the High Court of Australia, who is credited with having influenced Davis to go to the Bar. After leaving school, Davis attended East Sydney Technical College (now the National Arts School) and then embarked upon Arts at the University of Sydney. She did well but did not graduate with a degree. Turning to the law as an intellectual pursuit when her marriage failed, and with Gaudron’s assurance that she had what it took, she obtained the qualification of Diploma in Law through the Barristers’ Admission Board and was admitted to the New South Wales Bar on 14 June 1974. She went on to practise, predominantly in family law, using the Women Lawyers’ Room at Frederick Jordan Chambers until she succeeded in being able to have her own. Notable among her cases was what may have been the last breach of promise suit. In the mid-eighties she suffered a broken leg which restricted her labours. Davis later retired due to ill health.